Today I have given myself permission to use old photos just for the weekends. Or when it's absolutely necessary. Like when I'm sick in bed for days on end. Or when step-children cause chaos in my life, which does happen, more's the pity. So here's a photo I took last November (2005) while on vacation in San Francisco. Alcatraz Island and a very nice old-timey ship right infront of it. This is one of my all time favorite photos that I've taken.

The heater in the office went out yesterday. So today, my bosses daughter comes into the office and complains of being cold. We tell her to go put on a sweatshirt. She returns in this outfit. Her pajamas, a full length robe, and a fuzzy scarf. And then is thrilled when I take her picture. A model in the making I tell you.

 

This is the view out my office window. It's another one of those that I take pics of it at different times of the day to test the lighting. They call it Rattlesnake Ridge because... well, you get the picture. So to speak.

 

After being trapped in the house all weekend by my sickness, I can't believe how attractive work is looking! This is Benny and Princess, the two cats that keep me company the most. The others are more independent, or at least more dependent on my husband, but these two are always with me. It's good to be loved unconditionally.

When you're home sick all day, is there anything better than a complete 16-hour Firefly marathon? I think not.

I've been sick all weekend so I'm struggling to get out of bed, much less take interesting pics all day! But I did get this sunrise shot while walking the dogs first thing in the morning. It was seriously cold, so I ran back in the house pretty quick and slept for the rest of the day.

These are the presents I wrapped up for the step-kids today. I had fun doing it. But I didn't have any gift tags, so I just settled for using one type of paper for each kid's presents. Hey, whatever works. And I couldn't find the bows to adorn them festively, but it's the thought that counts, right?

This is the frozen goldfish pond in front of my office. I've been taking pics of it at different times of the day to experiment with the lighting. Today was a slow day. Maybe I'll take more pics later this evening and choose a different one tomorrow.

I started uploading a bunch of older photos I've taken over the years into the Webshots albums. It will take a while, I have a LOT. I guess I've always been interested in photography, I just never put a lot of effort or thought into it. It helps that I've been a lot of places, so I've had the chance to take lots of pics. So check them out when you have time!

 

Here's what I've uploaded so far. Photos of:

 

Even though this turned out really dark, it still makes me laugh. This is the Hooker Creek concrete mixer covered in Christmas lights. Really gotta love the effort that took to have Christmas spirit.

Okay, well Bagel wins today. It was just one of those priceless moments. I turned around, and there he was. I actually had a different favorite, right up until I sat down at the computer to post it, and Bagel hopped in the trash can. Go figure. Got several nice morning shots of the mountains though, they're on the Webshots page.

December's Photos

I'm not perfect, and I'll be the first to admit that. But honesty ranks up there pretty darn high in my book and I make a point to be an honest person. So I've just discovered that my boss lied to me about a situation at work, an old (large) invoice that came out of nowhere, and I went to bat for my boss and convinced the company they had the wrong person, because I believed they really did. And now I've just discovered that it really was his invoice and it should have been paid. I'm seriously annoyed about the situation and I don't really know what, if anything, to do about it. I can't afford to rock the boat or piss him off in any way that might risk my job. But I seriously don't like the way this feels.

 

And how weird is it that I just posted this entry at 4pm on December 19th, but it says 12am on December 20th?? What is up with that?

Three birds with one stone, gotta love it! I decided that I a) needed to do "something" new with this journal, and b) needed a new hobby, and c) needed a new way to express myself creatively. This weekend I was standing in line in Barnes & Noble and they have a new book displayed on the counter that is A Day in the Life of Central Oregon (I think). Which reminded me that I like photography, even though my camera is fairly outdated, and that I should start practicing more. Especially considering that on my drive to work I often see bald eagles, and sunsets and sunrises, and the fantastic mountain view. So my thought at B&N was that I should carry my camera with me more often. And then today while I was thinking I should really be writing in this journal more often, my camera thought and my journaling thought combined into a "hey, I should be posting a new pic in my journal each day and then blog about it" thought. So there you have it!

 

Instead of just waiting around for the New Year, I'm gonna get started right away with tomorrow. Since the camera needs to be charged tonight and today is pretty much over at this point. I really need to take a lot of pics each day to sift through them and pick out a good one, because I tend to end up with a lot of Three Sister pics and a lot of pet pics, so I'll try to avoid posting the same ole thing every day. I'm excited about the idea so I promise to try really hard to stay motivated and actually make it something interesting! Here's to praying for that anyway.